Non-ferrous metals manufacturers have urged the Centre to maintain a customs duty differential of at least 15 per cent between primary copper products such as wire rods, bars, billets, cathodes and scraps and finished copper products such as sheets, strips, foils, rods, wires.
Currently, raw materials used to produce copper or primary copper products attract a uniform 35 per cent import duty, while imported finished products also attract a similar duty.
The Bombay Metal Exchange, the organisation for the promotion of trade and industry in non-ferrous metals, has stated in its pre-budget memorandum for 2002-03, "Due to this peculiar situation, a lot of finished goods are being imported, ignoring the locally manufactured copper products. The local manufacturers are not able to compete due to higher interest cost, higher power cost, higher local levies such as sales tax, surcharge on sales tax, octroi etc."
According to the association, around 60-70 per cent of the manufacturing units in the organised and small scale sector have either closed down or are idle, which in turn is fomenting labour unrest.
However, the nil duty difference is not there in case of some other non-ferrous metals such as aluminium waste and scrap where the import duty is 15 per cent, while aluminium finished products such as sheets, strips and foils attract an import duty of 25 per cent. Same is the case with stainless steel.
The pre-budget memorandum also seeks a reduction in import duty differential between copper concentrates -- the basic raw material -- which attracts a duty of 5 per cent and the other forms of copper, on which import duty is 35 per cent.
The import duties suggested on copper concentrates, copper raw materials, copper waste and scraps and finished copper are 5 per cent, 20 per cent, 20 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.
